Wrench.



' L. HENRIKSEN.

WRENCH.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 21. I91].

wi bnwow Patented July 25 1916.

. the gripping LEVI HENRIKSEN, OF HAMPTON, NEBRASKA.

wnnncn.

Specification of Letters Patent. Pgtent ed July 25, 1916 Application filed October 27, 1911. Serial No. 657,082.

fication, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention has relation to an improved wrench of that class known as alligator wrenches; and the object of my invention is to provide a wrench of this general character oi? a simple and inexpensive nature and of a compact and durable construction including a pivotally held gripper head capable of convenient, accurate and secure adjustment in position upon a workpiece.

lVith these and other objects in view the present invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described and finally pointed out in the appended claim, it being further understood thatchanges in the specific structure shown and described may be made within the scope of the claim, with out departing-from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, and in which like numerals of reference indicate similar parts in the several views: Figure 1, shows a top view of a wrench embodying my invention. Fig. 2, shows a transverse sectional view with portions broken away, and Fig. 3,

shows a side elevational view with portions broken away. i I

While the so-called alligator wrenches are convenient and efficient tools, they are obj ectionable, as ordinarily constructed, in that teeth which are practically glass hard, chip ofi at the ends in the use of the wrench. This occurs when the operator neglects to hold the wrench at right angles to the workpiece, so that all the strain comes on one or more teeth at one end, resulting in the teeth breaking. In my invention I overcome this objectionable feature, in that I provide an alligator wrench in which the pivotally held gripping jaw is protected by two guard plates of a softer material, so that in the operation of the tool should the wrench be tilted under force, the guard plate teeth will bend but protect the intermediately held main gripping teeth. The guard plates are further reversibly and interchangeably'held to the main gripper head, so that as the teeth are worn down, the guard plate can be reversed to bring the opposite arm into play to protect the main gripper head teeth. V

In carrying out the aimof my invention I employ two counterpart handle members 1, 1, each at one end having an enlarged oli'set head, these heads being marked 2,2, and clearly shown in Fig. 3. Each head has a bolt aperture, the bolt aperture 3, of the handle 1, as shown in Fig. 3, being threaded, while the bolt opening 3, within the remaining handle section 1, ends in a seat 6. Nearthe opposite end each handle member has a pivot opening 4, these openings being arranged to receive the rivet 4, connecting the handle members at one end.

Each handle member has a middle lengthwise running channel 5, from which extends the laterally running access opening 6, as disclosed in Fig. 2. As shown in Fig. 8, when united, the heads of the two handle members are held in parallel spaced relation, so as to snugly receive the gripping head, as used in my device.

Sli'dably held within the access opening 5, is a pin 7 and extending "from thispin is an operating stud 8, extending through the access opening as shown in Fig. 2, this stud 8, limiting the backward and forward movement of the pin 7, to the rear of which is positioned a coil spring 9, which normally forces the pin 7, outward. The channel 5, is preferably square in cross section to receive the pin 7, though this pin and the channel may be circular.

The gripping member as used in my invention includes a main circular gripper head made of hardened steel embracing two divergently held jaws 11 and 12, shown in Fig. 2, extending from a circular head 1.0, having edge entering notches 13, the jaw 12, having serrations or gripping teeth 5, as shown. This head 10, has a bolt aperture'l l, and an adjacent pin opening 15, and employed in connection with this main gripping head are two similar gripping head guard plates, marked 19, 19, in the drawings, these guard plates being made of a material. softer than the main gripper head i and in outline conforming to the shape of said main gripping head. As shown in Fig. 1, where one of the counterpart guard plates 19, is shown, each includes a circular base 25, "from which extend the divergently held tions 26, 26,. The guard plates are held to the inain'head by means of the pin 17,

" which is removably held within the pin openings. The spring 9, andthe pin 7, are

, then inserted within the channel when the gripping head is carried between the offset heads 2, 2, and secured in position by means of the bolt 16, the head of which is held within the seat'G, the lower end of the bolt 16, threading intothe opening 3, as shown in Fig. 3. As shownvin Fig. 1, the serrations of the guard plate jaws opposite the main serrated jaw 12, do not come-into play as the points of the teeth do not project beyond the inner face a, of the jaw 11,the smooth jaw face extending outward to the point of the teeth upon the guard plates upon ones1de, as shown in F 1g. 1. The serrations upon the opposite side, however, exactly register with v the serrations of the gripping jaw-12, as

shown in Fig. The gripping member of my wrench can be turned atany angle, in simply drawing the pm 7, rearward, prop- .erly adjusting the jaw head, and allowing the pin 7, to find a proper seat between two teeth 13. In this position the teeth SBII'H: tions upon one side may be brought into firm engagement with the work-piece. Now

- should the operator tilt the wrench so that the end'of one or two teeth, these teeth will be bent and would be mutilated as they are made of softer material, while the hard interposed gripping teeth 5, will be saved and protected. As the soft teeth upon the active jaw of the guard plates wear out, they are reversed, so that the mutilated teeth are carried upon the smooth jaw 11, the new soft edged teeth being brought into alinement with the main hardened gripping teeth-5.

It is of course understood that these wrenches may be made in several sizes. The tool is simple and inexpensive in construction and both durable and efficient in operation, and the guard plates'can be reversed with ease and accuracy. The pin 17, has been described as loosely held within the pin openings, this pin being prevented from becoming displaced in that the same is slidably held against the inner faces of the handle heads 2, 2. I

Having thus described my said invention,

what I claim as new and desire to'secure by United States Letters Patent is: I

A wrench including a'main headhaving two divergently heldjaws one of said aws having its face cut into gripping teeth the other jawhaving a smooth active face, said gripping teeth being hardened, two guard plates of material softer than said head in outline conforming to the shape of said head located upon opposite sides of said head said dened teeth of said wrench head, and means to hold said soft plates to said main head.

In testimony whereof I alhx my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

LEVI I-IENRIKSEN.

lVitnesses V. F. Pownns, P. C. HANSEN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of latents,

Washington, I). C.

soft plates having teeth guarding the har- 

